Monday, November 24, 2014

Not really a Tag Heuer; not really a Limited edition....

Supposed to name this post as "What can you buy with RM50 (approximately USD15)?" RM50 that was precisely what I paid for this piece of limited edition. When something sounded too good to be true... then it is usually fake......

I bought the watch from here in April, 2004; the famous Chinatown, Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur.

The Petaling Street is the shoppers' paradise if you want to bargain your way to some cheap things. There is almost everything here from clothes, souvenirs to electronic items to fabrics. Other than cheap stuff, Petaling Street is renowned for selling imitation goods like handbags, wallets, belts, sunglasses, lighters, watches and shoes from brands like Adidas, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Versace, Nike and so on.

Here is a classic vendor of Petaling Street. Most of them are super salesperson. If you want to make a purchase here, be sure that you have mastered the art of price negotiation, and have a strong psychology.

You can find famous names like Rolex, Omega, Panerai, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Chopard, Montblanc, IWC, Audemars Piguet and many more here in this and other stalls.

I bought this particular watch because it is a Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi's limited edition. I didn't know who is Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi..... I thought he is

OR

OR

Hahahaaaaaaaaa I am dead wrong. This is Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (川口 能活).... former Goalkeeper and captain for Japan Soccer team.

Put it this way, it was only RM50 for a fully functional chronograph and some more a limited time piece LOL..... who can resist that? So, I bought this time piece; wore it one or two times and totally forgot about it.

Amazingly after a good ten years, it is still ticking inside the closet. It took me by surprise.... Hence, I decided to open the screw back case up to see what Chinese movement it has. I can't believe it, this cheap imitate timepiece actually used a genuine Miyota Cal.0S20 movement.

Miyota Cal.0S20 3 eyes chronograph with date analogue Quartz movement. It is categorised as tuning fork type quartz crystal with a frequency of 32,768Hz and an accuracy of +/-20 seconds per month worn under normal circumstances. This is the very same movement Citizen used in some of their Quartz Chronograph. A lot of fancy dress watch and also renown brands also use this movement in their chronograph watches. The price is of course far far higher than my RM50.

I decided to replace its battery with a fresh one. With twisted mind, I also replacing its original mineral crystal with scratchproof sapphire glass. I don't consider this is a replica Tag Heuer. It is not based on any specific Tag Heuer existing model. This is just a very cruel imitation. Any person with sufficient interest in watches can tell it is a fake.

All parts of this watch is made of stainless steel. The case and the stainless steel bracelet possessed the design of Tag Heuer's Link series. This watch has a black dial with an internal tachymeter ring. The Tag Heuer logo is a dead give away. This watch is equipped with sword type hands.

The chronograph push buttons on this watch is rectangle shaped. The Heuer signed crown sits nicely within crown guards.

The back case is something that quite spectacular. The back case is signed with a Tag Heuer logo and with model number stated as CN111B.BA0337. It also bragged being Swiss Made and is limited to 2000 piece. Every single one of this imitation is serial numbered to 1996/2000.

Now there is also a signature of Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi and dated June 2002. Too bad I have not seen a real Yoshikatsu's signature......

The real Caliber 36 of Tag Heuer..... (taken from www.onthedash.com)

Finishing this post with a photo of lovely Japanese team female supporters.....

4 comments:

great article, but, you DIDN'T GIVE US THE PRICE ON THE REAL TAG????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ---- VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION! SO, JUST TO GET CLEARITY, DID TAG "EVER", make such a watch, with the famous soccer player signature? Didn't TELL US THAT EITHER --- YOU JUST SAID YOU NEVER SEEN THE SOCCER PLAYER' SIGNATURE --- DOES NOT TELL IF ONE EVER EXISTED --- JUST, YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT! SO PLEASE ANSWER THE TWO QUESTIONS I'VE POSED IN THIS COMMENT. Thank-you AND THEN YOUR ARTICLE WILL BE "PEREFECT", I ASSUME THE PURPOSE OF YOUR POSTING WAS TO EDUCATE --- ALSO, YOU TALKED ABOUT THE HANDS OF THE FAKE HAVING SWORD LIKE SHAPES, BUT YOU DID NOT - TELL US WHAT A "REAL" TAG, HAND SHAPE SHOULD HAVE BEEN, TO BE A REAL TAG????

Thank you for your suggestions.... Firstly, I am not a professional watchmaker or watch authority or even an expert level watch blogger. I am only sharing a thing or two about my watch collection, my shallow understanding of watch and my two cents worth of opinions..... I think I have stressed enough that this watch is a FAKE Tag Heuer... and as far as I know Tag never release a Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi edition. Regarding how a real Tag looks like; well you can search for it in magazines or at Tag's authorised dealers. Too bad, I have no Tag in my closet. Anyhow a friend of mine just bought a brand new Tag Heuer Monaca Caliber 36 for approximately USD10,000. Hopefully that answer your questions. Have a nice day!

Typing "Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi" + "TAG Heuer" into any internet search engine would have proven they DID release such a watch. 500 of them actually. They look alot different to your fake. I really appreciated your post, very thorough. Thanks.

Great post.I never would of guessed it was fake. Just bought one at a charity shop.and the Pawn broker (next door) thought it was real.But you know what they say "Thou shall not suffer a fake watch to live"